Maverick Virus
by chaoticbenevolence
Summary: We all know what the maverick virus does, but how did it come to be? It's not the way you think. An ongoing story set in the original Megaman universe. RollForte BluesKalinka.Ananomous reviews now welcome
1. XStrian

All right! This is my first post ever! Now, on the topic of flames and comments, you can set me on fire really. This is my first time of and I need a little constructive criticism. Disclaimer: Megaman and all parts are owned by Capcom. The story belongs to me.

* * *

Blam Another explosion rocked the foundation of the Light home. Warning sirens blared in the background as fires erupted from the computer terminals.

"X! Stop it, we're friends remember?" Rock pleaded.

"Shut up and die!" X shouted menacingly as he shot forth another plasma blast, causing Rock to roll to the side to dodge. Another explosion rippled behind him as the blast came in contact with the wall.

"Give it up Rock! He's not listening!" Blues shouted over the sirens as he shot at X.

X retaliated in kind as he blasted at Blues, who blocked it with his shield, but the blast was still enough to send him staggering backwards.

"I told you all to shut up!" X shouted as he charged up his blaster, its energy soon manifesting itself as a blue glow.

"So that's how you wanna play huh?" Blues asked as he, to, charged his blaster.

Rock seeing that Blues shield would not be able to contain a blast from X's blaster cannon, distracted X by shooting him in the back. X did not stop charging, merely turned his arm cannon on Rock.

"Hey X!" Blues called, "Think you can handle this!"

X turned his head to face Blues, while Rock noticed how violently his arm was shaking.

"Blues! Don't!" Rock shouted.

But it was too late; a near white flame erupted from Blues' blaster, engulfing X. When the flames died down, X lay on the floor, armor melted, bits of synthetic shin burned away, and Blues fell to his knees, clutching his chest.

"Blues!" Rock cried as he ran over and fell to one knee next to his brother.

"Don't worry about me" the red and gray android said, "I'm fine."

He tapped a button on the side of his helmet to activate the built in communicator. "Dr. Light, you can come in now, X is disabled." Blues forced out.

"You sound injured" Thomas Light said over the communicator, worry evident in his voice, "How much damage have you both taken?"

"Minimal" Blues replied.

Silence. "You over charged your core again, didn't you?"

"What!" He heard Roll shout over the communicator.

Blues let out a sigh. " Do not worry about it, my power levels are already regulating."

"I could fix the problem if-"

"No" Blues cut him off, already knowing what he was about to offer.

Doctor Light sighed. "Fine" he said, "I'm sending Auto down to pick up X, And Roll to inspect what damage the both of you have taken."

"She can inspect Rock, I'll be taking my leave now."

"Not so fast!" He heard a feminine young voice from behind him say. He turned around to see Roll standing in the doorway, wearing her black, red, and white dress with large black oversized buttons.

"It's been months since we last saw you! You could at least stay the night!" She said.

"Yeah!" Auto said, walking in behind her, "Plus, It's movie night!"

Blues sighed, maybe it would be a good idea to stay the night since this recent escapade.

Dr. Light sighed as he gazed upon X lying on the operating table in his main lab. He had done a thorough scan of his systems, and was depressed at what he found. He accessed his notes on his computer and made another entry.

Entry 48906

Subject: X-Strain Malfunction

It is, as I feared, he could not handle the X-Strain. During a deep scan I believe I have found the problem. It seems a robot cannot stand a sudden adjustment to free will. It also seems that the problems are not immediate. When I created X, like all robots he was given a set of protocols, first and foremost are the laws of robotics. The X-strain was made to bypass these protocols, and X was to be the first inhibitor. I had hoped that his superior thought matrix and complex algorithms in his personality subroutines would allow him to control it. This was not the case.

It seems that those protocols it was meant to bypass, cause a unique malfunction when in the right circumstances. Within the personality subroutines, the two different orders, to decide on his own via the X-strain, or to obey humans because of the protocols, seem to clash and distort the system. In short, insanity. The problem presented itself while he and Auto were assisting me in the lab.

In light of these problems, I fear I may have to go to my last resort.

-Doctor Thomas Light

Thomas sighed as he saved his notes, then looked towards a small, unremarkable red phone, covered in dust because it had never been used. That phone only connected to one specific phone. Was now really the right time to make the call? He thought.

Hesitantly, he walked over towards the phone, lifted of the receiver, and hit the speed dial. It rang three times before the other side picked up.

"Hello Thomas" an old voice on the line answered.

"Hello Albert"

* * *

CB: Oh no I didn't give you all a cliffhanger!

Feral: Yes you did.

CB: Shut up.


	2. Old foes, new friends

CB: All right! Another chapter! This one may surprise some of you with what happens.

Feral: You know saying that only makes people expect the unexpected and makes the surprise less dramatic, right?

CB: …Crap.

* * *

The rain beat down relentlessly on the roof of the small home, and thunder cracked in the distance. Within this building, relative peace reigned. Rock and Roll slept contently on the large blue couch in front of the T.V. Blues sat on the arm of the couch, and Auto stood of to the side in stasis mode, as the title screen of the movie they had watched showed prominently on the screen. 

"Rock, Blues, Roll, Auto" Thomas addressed as he walked into the room.

"Nnh" Rock and Roll groaned as the groggily opened their eyes. Blues merely turned his head towards Thomas, apparently having only been feigning sleep, while Auto just turned on immediately.

"I need you all to disengage your weapon systems temporarily."

"Okey-dokey!" Auto said in a chipper manner before his eyes went blank for a moment, then turned back on.

"Wait." Rock said "Why?'

"Please just trust me" Thomas pleaded.

Rock left a wry eye on him, but did so anyway, Roll soon following suit.

"Blues?"

Blues just nodded his head. Dr. Light, seeing that that was most of an answer he would receive, let it go at that. As if on cue, a knock sounded at the door. Hesitantly, he walked towards the door and opened it. Behind the wooden portal stood a man no taller than Dr. Light in a large brown over coat and hat that completely masked his face.

"Please, come in" Dr. Light greeted. The man in the overcoat complied, stepping out of the rain. After Dr. Light had closed the door and given the man an okay signal, he hesitantly took off his effects, revealing his white lab coat, bushy mustache, and wild hair that stuck out towards either end.

"Wily!" Rock and Roll yelped simultaneously whilst standing up. Blues didn't react in the least and Auto just whimpered.

"Please calm down!" Dr. Light pleaded.

"But that's Dr. Wily!" Rock argued.

"You can calm down Rock" Dr. Wily spoke up, "I mean no harm."

"Why are you here?" Rock demanded. "So Forte can attack from behind?"

"Now Rock, you know I have more control over that boy than you do."

"How can you be trusted? You're insane!"

Dr. Wily let out a sigh. "Rock, do you know why I tried to take over the world?"

"What?" Rock asked, surprised.

"I did it for you, Roll, Blues, and all other robots." He said.

"What are you-" Rock started before being cut off by Blues.

"Let him talk, Rock"

"Thank you Blues. Now, Rock, you know as well as I do that mankind has more than it's share of bigots. When we started the Robot Master project, we both knew mankind would not be accepting of intelligent robots. That is where we had a falling out."

"As always, Thomas was optimistic about the whole ordeal, 'Give humanity time' he said. I, on the other hand, felt that mankind would only be acceptant by force. So, on the day of my alleged 'ways of madness', I took what I needed, and left without a goodbye. Then, you, came into play, and so many opportunities came into play."

"Suddenly it was a win-win situation. If I were to win, mankind would learn tolerance by force. If you were to win, a hero would be born, and mankind would actually look up to a robot. Finally a road to tolerance would be paved, and it's worked, hasn't it?"

Rock couldn't believe it, but he could not refute his estimation. Recently robots had recently been able to work outside of factories and construction. There had been an influx of robots working in law enforcement, and similar fields.

"But,'

"Rock, listen. The way the world sees it, eight times I have been defeated by someone who looks like a ten year old boy who wears his under wear on the outside. My black-market contacts find it too embarrassing to work with me. I have no resources, no base since you last blew it up, and my face is everywhere on bounty poster, so I wouldn't be able to do anything if I wanted to." Wily explained.

"He's telling the truth Rock." Blues said.

"How do you know?" Rock asked.

"I've worked with him in the past, remember?"

"Oh, right." Rock said as he remembered their bouts in the past. "What about Forte?" He tried to hide it, but everyone could notice the sliver of hope that his rival had changed sides also.

"I haven't the slightest idea, we haven't kept in touch ever since I had to cut him off from the teleport matrix." Wily explained.

"But why are you here?" Rock asked.

"Because I asked him" Dr. Light said. "X's damage is extensive, and I need help if I am to fix him"

"What about us?" Roll asked.

"This is too complicated, and there a chance that the same malfunction would effect you too if you were to wok on him."

Suddenly a warning light and siren blared as text flashed on the screen of the computer on the back wall. "Trouble by the forest!" Auto read.

* * *

CB: I can honestly say I don't think anyone saw this coming. It would seem that Wily isn't really a madman, just a misunderstood hero who gave up everything to change the world. Please read and review and tell me how you like the plot twist! Oh, and those of you saying, but CB, how are you going to have a story without a main villain? Oh ye of little faith, that will be covered in the next chapter. For those of you thinking, why are my socks on fire? I don't know, go away. 

Feral: Uh, Host?

CB: Yeah?

Feral: Anger and Hatred just got into a fight, don't know why, and they've dragged the other emotions into it.

CB: I was wondering what was causing that headache.

Feral: so what do we do?

CB: Leave them be, they'll probably stop by the next update.


	3. Axeman

Feral: They're still fighting…

CB: And it's giving me a blasted headache. Feral?

Feral: On it. (His right arm turns into a big red claw with black flames and arcs of electricity dancing around it in a terrifying yet captivating spectacle.)

CB: Thank you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any products of Capcom. I do own this story line and Axeman. Also! I finally figured out how to allow anonymous reviews! It took me a shamefully long time to find the little tag.

* * *

Another shot blazed past his head as he rolled to dodge, flashing past him, crashing into a tree and felling it. 

'What the hell is this guy!' Forte thought as he dodged behind a thick oak.

His opponent was tall, real tall, the top of his head topping the ten foot mark. A large axe adorned his back, him currently favoring his blaster. He was a dark rust color, large, with thick arms and legs, and strips of black where his arms and legs connected with his torso.

"Come out and play, you little snake!" He said in a deep voice that sounded like grinding rocks.

'Come on…' Forte thought while charging up his blaster. "Now!" he shouted.

Suddenly a loud howl ripped through the air from nearby, followed by a purple blur flying for the large robot's head.

"What the!" The large robot said startled as he got a quarter ton robotic wolf to the face. Following up, Forte spun out from behind the tree, and shot his charged up blaster towards the large robots feet. He feel to the ground in a clatter.

"Gospel! Merge!" Forte shouted, to which the robotic wolf leapt off the axe-wielding bot towards Forte. Forte jumped into the air to meet him. They collided and Gospel's components merged with Forte's, leaving him with large wings, and a more pronounced helmet. He flew into the air, fully charged his blaster, and sent a massive plasma bolt heading for the prone robot.

The axe-wielding robot may have been large, but he was still agile enough to lean over and grab his axe off of his back and use it as a shield. The bolt collided with the axe, but did not destroy it, and the axe-wielders hand didn't quake in the last.

"Gah!" Forte shouted in frustration. "What is that thing made of! Mettol alloy!"

"Yes, actually" The robot replied with a smirk as he lifted his massive frame.

Suddenly a blue and a red stream of light landed nearby. When the light subsided, Rockman and Blues stood in the lights place.

"What are you two doing here!" Forte shouted, now fully angered and annoyed.

"Forte?" Rock asked. "Are you the one causing this mess?"

"No you moron! It's him!" Forte said, pointing towards the axe-wielder.

He and Blues turned their heads to face the massive robot, and found him looking at Rock with a look of fear on his face. "What are you doing here?" The axe carrying robot asked.

"Huh?" Rock asked. "Do I know you?"

A look of confusion passed the large robot's face, followed by recognition. "Hah! I apologize, I was mistaken, you are just the weakling."

"Weak? What are you talking about?"

"It matters not. I, am Axeman, and you are all dead."

"You have no idea of how sick I am of hearing that! Rock shouted before taking aim with his blaster and loosing a shot. Axeman easily deflected the shot with his axe.

"Rock stay out of this! This is my fight!" Forte shouted before being forced to fly higher as Axeman took a swipe at him.

"Be quite and run along!" Axeman said. "You are of no consequence." He added, turning his attention towards Rock and Blues.

"No consequence!" Forte shouted in indignation. "I'll show you who's of no consequence!" He charged through the air towards Axeman, pulling off a dive-bombing.

Axeman grunted at the blasts and turned his head towards Forte, only to get a fully charged buster shot courtesy of Rock to the face.

"Graaagh!" Axe man shouted before he placed his left foot forward, winded his body back, and hurled the axe horizontally towards Rock and Blues, to which both slid under. When the got back to their feet, the found themselves waist to face with the surprisingly quick Axeman. He swatted Blues away, and grabbed Rock by his torso, pinning his arms together, and proceeded to bash him into a tree.

"Leave him alone!" Forte shouted. "He's my prey!" He lifted his blaster canon and fired a charged shot at Axeman's back, making him stagger.

"I told you to run!" Axeman shouted as he turned and fired a shot at Forte, which he nimbly dodged. Forte fired off another shot that collided with his chest. In retaliation, Axeman ripped a nearby thin but tall oak out by the roots and made a downward swing for Forte, which was too fast for him too dodge and sent him sprawling too the floor.

Blackness was seeping into the edges of his vision when he heard one more blast, and a loud _Thud_. He then heard footsteps, and a voice that sounded like Blues say, "Come on Rock, we need to get him repaired."

* * *

(After the fight ended, all the emotions and Feral are standing in a group.) 

CB: Okay, Anger, Hatred, what was the fight about?

Anger: We can't remember, think it had something to do with ducks.

CB: Ducks! You were-

Joy: Chibi Time! (Suddenly everyone is turned into a chibi form and Joy runs in a circle around everyone, before turning everyone back to normal.)

CB: …Ok, that just totally broke my chain of thought. Now go play, I need to tell the readers something. (Everyone walks off) Okay, people have been asking about the new villain, and how Dr. Wily being a good guy disrupts the original-X continuum. Don't worry; I had multiple reasons for starting this Fanfic. One of those is too fill up EVERY single plot-hole between the original and the X series, without contrived plot devices or OC's (Except for the new robot masters, but they're a given). I have everything in complete control.


	4. Awake

CB: Recently, I was given a complaint about brevity. This problem will be immediately fixed in this chapter! Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman of any products of Capcom.

Sounds filtered through the air dimly, as he regained consciousness he began hearing familiar voices.

"-uckily he only suffered minor damage." One said.

"Why did he get knocked out then?" Another asked. Blues perhaps?

"Have you ever been hit in the head with a frickin tree? You'd be out cold too. Besides, the strike did damage to his and Gospel's connection and caused some very painful feedback." A crotchety old voice replied. Forte was sure he knew that voice. His crimson eyes shot open, and were met with jade green ones.

"Good morning!" The one he knew as Roll greeted happily.

He tried to move, but when he looked down at his body, he noticed his arms and legs had been strapped to an operating table. He turned his head too see Dr. Wily and Dr. Light standing side by side.

"What the Hell?!" He shouted in disbelief.

"And a fine hello to you too" Wily replied.

"Cut the Crap! What's going on here, and why am I strapped against a table?" He asked while struggling to get free.

"Please, calm down!" Roll pleaded.

"Screw yo-" He was cut off as he felt a strong hand pin him too the table. He looked up too see Blues holding him down.

"Calm. Down." Blues ordered with deathly calm. Forte complied.

"Good" Wily started. "To answer your second question, so we could repair you, and so that you wouldn't react violently when you woke up here. To answer the first, a partnership between Thomas and myself."

"What?!" Forte shouted. How could he work with Light?

"I know this seems odd but-"

"Seems?!" Forte shouted. "You specifically built me to hate them! And now you switch sides?"

"I never once told you to hate them. You hate Rock of your own violation. All I ever did was program you with a large ego, and threw you in front of someone who I knew would beat you the first time you fought." Wily said.

"Why you…" Forte growled. With a loud grunt, he ripped off the steel cuffs that banded him to the table before bending over and ripping them off his legs.

"Forte…" Warned Blues.

"All the things you did" Forte started as he rolled off the table, "All the crap you put me through… do you expect me to change sides too?"

"It would certainly make things easier, but it's your choice, you never listened too me anyway." Wily explained.

"Because you always got in my way!" Forte retorted.

"All you ever did was try to get into fights with Rock. If you would have followed my plans, you would have gotten that anyway."

"I want a fair fight! You always wanted me to attack him when he was injured."

"And even then you couldn't beat him. Do you think you could beat him in a fair fight?" Wily asked.

"I could if you gave me a decent upgrade every once in a while!" Forte shouted in outrage.

Wily just chuckled at him. "You are still a fool. Even after three years. Go on, you have no use here."

"Albert." Dr. Light scolded. "We still need him to tell us what he knows about that strange robot."

"I don't know anything, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you." Forte said in defiance.

"Yes, you would act like an idiot and hunt them yourself." Wily said.

"Screw you old man!" Forte shouted as he stormed out of the lab.

"Forte! Wait." Rock started.

"Save it Rock. Next time I see you, I will kill you." He said without stopping.

He walked through the forest, fully aggravated by the recent events.

"He's right you know. He heard a voice behind him say before he had gotten very far away from Light's lab. "You are still a fool."

He turned around to see Blues behind him leaning against a tree. "What are you talking about?"

"You still do not understand why you can never beat Rock. At least not how you are now." Blues explained

"I can't beat him because I can't get upgrades."

Blues just chuckled. "Besides the Rush fusion, he hasn't been upgraded since the day you met him, and you were specifically built to be more powerful then him."

"The old man failed to do that." Forte shot back.

"Do you really believe that?" Blues asked. "Do you think power levels are what's holding you back?"

"What are y-" _SNAP_. He was cut off by the sound of a branch breaking in the woods.

"That's my cue to leave." Blues said before teleporting away.

"Gospel?" Forte asked in the direction of the noise, just then remembering that his robotic wolf wasn't with him.

"You're half right!" A cheerful voice responded. Roll, closely followed by Gospel, appeared in the direction of the noise, and Gospel ran up and rubbed himself against Forte's leg. Forte responded by rubbing the mechanical wolf's head.

"What are you doing here?" Forte asked Roll. "Gospel could had found his way on his own."

"Well you ran out in such a huff, and I wanted to see if you were alright." Roll answered.

"What?" Forte asked incredulously.

Roll let her head droop for a moment as she said, "Forte… I remember a time when we were friends. Even if it was an act to get inside our lab, I believe that it couldn't have all been an act. I still think you're my friend."

"You're wrong." Forte deadpanned.

Roll lifted her head with a small smile. "No, I don't think I am. I think theirs more to you than that. Anyway, where are you staying?"

"What?" Forte asked again.

Roll sighed and rolled her eyes. "You know, where are you living right now?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"So we can hang-out some time!"

"Again, what?"

"Oh come. Even if I didn't want to be friends, you are probably going to need help if more of those robots show up. Come on, no-one else will find out where it is."

Forte thought about it for a moment. The entire idea was stupid, at best, and yet, something about her just drew him towards her. "At Wily's old fortress." He said before he even realized he was saying it.

"Great!" Roll cheered with a large happy smile. "I'll see you tomorrow!" She said before running off.

Bewildered, Forte just walked of without a word.

CB: And there you have it. A timeline is set, one year after Megaman 8, and two of the most important characters come into play. I know at least one of my voices is happy about this.

Love: (Giggles with a slight blush upon her cheeks) Oh yes, I'm going to have fun with them.

Feral: Shouldn't we be doing something entertaining now?

CB: Screw that! Save it for the next update!


	5. Memories

Disclaimer I do not own megaman.

* * *

Forte walked through the forest, still angry at his most recent defeat at the hands of Rock. Why couldn't he defeat him?

"You're Forte, Right?" He heard a voice behind him ask. He turned around to see a peculiar android in a grey jumpsuit, red gloves, boots, and helmet with a pitch black visor, with a white and red shield strapped on his back.

"Wait a minute…" Forte mumbled. "I know you…"

"Am I right?" The mysterious android asked again.

Recognition dawned on Forte. "The old man's archives, you're that blue twerp's brother!" Forte shouted as he aimed his arm canon at Blues.

"So I am right." Blues stated with a smirk.

"What the hell do you want? To protect your little brother?"

"Rock can take care of himself." Blues replied. "I just want to talk."

"About what?" Forte asked without dropping his guard.

"Why do you hate Rock?" Blues asked simply.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what is the real reason you hate him so much? I know you have some semblance of honor, and you're not the type to hate someone just because he is on the other side of the conflict." Blues elaborated.

"What do you think you know of me?" Forte growled.

"Quite a lot, actually. You see, I've been watching you for a while now, and I must say you intrigue me. I, do know the real reason you hate him so much, do you?

"I hate him because he is my enemy!" Forte shouted.

"Now now, didn't I just say I know you better than that? What's the real reason?"

"You seem to think you know so much, why don't you tell me?"

"No, I think I'm going to make you guess. Come on, is it because he's better?"

"I told y-"

"Or is it because he holds a mirror to your eyes, and you don't like what you see?" Blues cut him off.

"W-what?" Forte stuttered.

"Is it because he revealed to you the life that your life is? Is that it?" Blues continued.

Shut up!" Forte shouted as he shot at Blues, who easily sidestepped the shot. With a roar, Forte ignited the thrusters in his feet and launched himself towards Blues. Again, Blues merely stepped to the side to dodge the flying punch.

Turning off his thrusters, Forte kicked his right foot forward into the ground, and kicked backwards with the other, to which Blues rolled forward to dodge the blow. Following his momentum, Forte spun around and sent another shot flying, causing Blues to duck under the projectile. Seeing that his opponent was too close to the ground to prepare any true defense, Forte leapt at him and struck out with a downward hook, only to get his fist stuck in the ground when Blues rolled to the side.

"Jeez Forte. My visor is currently at a dark enough setting to block out the sun itself. I haven't used my eyes once during this entire fight." Blues taunted.

With a growl, Forte ripped his arm out of the ground, and pointed it point-blank at Blues' head. "Dodge this…" Forte forced out of gritted teeth.

"Nope." Blues replied with a smirk. Instead, he quickly knocked the blaster away from his head, spun a complete circuit while pulling of his shield, and crashed it into the side of Forte's head, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Now listen." Blues instructed. "You can never defeat me, or Rock as you are now. Think about that."

That was the last thing he heard before he blacked out.

_SNAP!_

* * *

Forte was forced out of his contemplations as he the sound of a twig breaking in the direction of the wood that surrounded the broken down old skull shaped fortress. He stood atop a tall support beam near the east wing of the building. Forte looked in the direction of the noise, and found Roll coming out of the woods. She searched around for a moment before looking up and spotting him.

"Hey Forte!" She called with a wave.

Forte sighed, again wondering why he had given his location to this cheerful girl. No, Forte realized, not a girl. When she was created, her body and mind were designed to be at ten, if Wily's archives were correct. She was at least eight-teen by know. Somehow she just managed to keep a youthful exuberance. Silencing his own thoughts, he leapt down to meet her.

* * *

"Hm," Thomas Light mused as he examined the body of the massive android Blues and Rock had brought in the previous day.

"It's amazing." Albert Wily commented from the other side of the examination table. "I have never seen anything this complex in my life."

"I have." Thomas said grimly. He turned and walked over to his computer. He searched through files until coming across one called simply 'X-form'. He opened it, and went through nearly sixty password screens. Nearly ten minutes later, he opened a file with a very complex schematic in it.

"Oh my…" Albert whispered, "Is that…"

"Yes. That is X." Thomas answered.

Albert chuckled. "You always were the better roboticist."

"We both know that's not true. I make things, but you make them better." Thomas chuckled before going back to a more serious tone. "Skill aside, these two schematics are strikingly similar."

"What?" Wily asked as he double-checked Axeman's layout. It was true, except for a few modifications to accommodate size and fighting style, they were the same. "Who ever built this robot has access to your technology."

"Now let's not jump to conclusions. It could just be coincidence."

Albert looked up at Thomas. "Neither of us believes in coincidences."

"Then other than time travel, I can think of no other answer! And that's impossible!"

"What are you talking about? Of course time travel is possible, I've done it before, remember? Besides I'm sure there are more plausible answers."

"It was a figure of speech, but that's not the point. Whoever built this one most likely built more, and if they're all as powerful as X…" He let the statement hang in the air.

"We need help." Albert stated.

"We also need to prepare." Thomas added. "Rock?" He called over the intercom.

"Yeah?" Rock answered.

"Do you know where Roll is?" He asked. He planned to know where everyone was in case of another attack.

"No, she told me she was going out earlier."

"Well could you find her? We might have problems soon."

"What kind?" Rock asked.

* * *

CB: All right, Chapter 5. Now, when I was looking back through my chapters to see If I had made any mistakes, I came across something. I think some of the things I said during the comments portion may have made some people angry. When I told people that I had things under control, I meant it to mean that I was taking their reviews into consideration. I still want people to point out mistakes and concerns, I mean, this is going to be a long story, (Currently I think it's going to be 50+ chapters) So I know I'm going to slip up somewhere. If I have been a jerk to anyone, I sincerely apologize. Please read and review and tell me what you think so far. (Also, tell me if you want me to bring back the short segments with myself and the other voices.) 


	6. Confrontation

CB: Well, I didn't get any qualms about it so…

Joy: Were back!

Feral: Yes yes, now shut up.

Joy: Party pooper!

CB: Break it up; you may be back, but let's save the antics of hilarity for next time okay?

Joy: Okay! Feral: Whatever

* * *

They had been talking for nearly three hours, sitting on broken rafter of the old building, and, strangely enough, Forte found he was enjoying himself.

"Forte?" Roll asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you hate Rock?" She asked out of the blue.

"What?" Forte replied. Why did people keep asking him that? Wasn't that obvious?

"I mean, I think there's more to it than you let on. You aren't really on any side anymore, so you can't really use that as an excuse. So, there has to be a reason, right?"

Forte growled. "Do you have any idea how much you sound like your brother right now?"

"Huh? Which one?"

"Blues. He asked me the same question once." Blues explained.

"Did you ever answer him?"

"No. He just kept blathering."

"Forte." Roll deadpanned. "We both know Blues doesn't 'blather'.

"Well whatever he was talking about didn't make much sense. Something about how Rock, 'holds a mirror in front of my eyes.'" Forte mocked.

"Are you sure it didn't make sense, or do you just not want to accept what you see.?" Roll asked.

"What do you mean?" Forte asked, fully tired of riddles.

"I mean, what could be in the mirror?" Roll clarified. She opened her mouth to elaborate, but was cut off as a voice called her name from the forest.

"Roll?" That all to familiar voice called gain.

"Rock?" Roll muttered.

"How did he…?

"I swear Forte! I didn't tell any body!"

"Roll?' Rock called again as he emerged from the woods, being led by Rush. As the mechanical dog approached the building, he apparently noticed the scent followed up, and spotted the sitting on the rafters, and barked to indicate his discovery. He was met with a growl and glowing red eyes from the shadows of the old building, Gospel not liking being woken up.

"Wha?" Rock said, startled. He looked up to where Rush barked, and was met by a sight he apparently wasn't expecting. "Roll, Forte?"

"Rock! It's not what you think!" Roll pleaded.

"I'm not sure what it looks like." Rock replied with a confused look on his face, before shaking it to clear his thoughts. "Listen, we'll talk about it later. Right now dad wants us back at the lab, we have problems. Forte?"

"Save it Rock. I already know what you're going to ask, and I have a feeling I know what the problem is. I am going to take care of them myself." Forte replied.

"Forte…" Roll said with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Listen, you don't know the full problem! These ones are stronger than any of us!" Rock said.

"Hah!" Forte laughed as he stood up on the rafters. "Don't make me laugh Rock! I am the most powerful creature on this planet!"

"Forte, please reconsider." Roll pleaded.

Rock just sighed and let his head droop. "Forte?"

"What?"

In answer, Rock lifted his right arm to his chest, and let it switch to blaster form.

"Rock?" Forte asked in surprise.

"You and me, right now. No time limit, no rules, and no interference." Rock explained. "If I win, you come back with us, and help us with what is to come. If you win, then, you win. Deal?"

Forte stayed silent, partly in thought, partly in shock.

"Do we have a deal Forte?" Rock asked a gain more forcefully.

"Alright, let's go." Forte agreed as he jumped off the rafter to approach Rock.

"Forte, wait-"

"Forget it Roll, He won't listen to anything else." Rock interrupted.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this, Rock." Forte commented.

"I really don't want to do this, but you don't leave me any other choice." Rock replied as he lifted his head.

"I'm ready when you are Rock." Forte said.

They both took their separate battle stances, and both seemed to wait for a signal only they could see.

"Now!" They both shouted in unison.

* * *

CB: Ah yes, the dreaded cliffhanger. I really didn't want to stop here, but I do not want these chapters too long, and I really want to do this fight justice. I will get back to this as soon as I can, hopefully tomorrow. I plan on making this a long fight. so sorry for the shortness of the chapter. 


	7. Fight

CB: Ow, my hands. Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any products of Capcom.

* * *

Forte dashed forward to get up close, and Rock slid under in an effort to trip him up. In response, Forte jumped, flipped, and shot down at Rock in midair. Rock, seeing that his momentum wouldn't get him out of the way of the blast, quickly rolled to the side, dodging by scant inches. Spinning around, Forte launched himself at his prone opponent and struck out with a downward hook. Rock quickly tucked his legs under him, and sprung out of the way, causing Forte to only hit dirt, which his hand got stuck in.

Rock, noticing an opening, took it as he charged forward with his fist high. But Forte had been in a similar situation before, and let his arm switch to canon mode. He blasted the ground, freeing his hand, and grabbed Rock's falling fist by the wrist, tucked it over his shoulder, and flipped Rock over. But Rock was not to be taken out that easily, instead, he kicked with his momentum, making his feet head towards the ground instead through the air, and grabbed the hand that held him. Given his placement, Forte expected Rock to mimic his move, but instead Rock pulled forward and kicked back with his right foot. Having no choice, Forte took the blow, but also grabbed Rock's leg while his hand that still held his. He spun around, taking Rock off of his supporting left leg, and flung him through a crumbling wall.

Anxiously, Forte waited for Rock to stir, he dare not attack his rival when he couldn't see him. Suddenly an explosion erupted from where Rock was, sending dust and debris, obscuring his vision. Random rocks pinged off his armor as he tried in vane to see beyond the blinding dust while covering his face.

He heard a sound above him, and looked up to see a vague outline above him, followed by a blue flash. Forte dived forward and only received a grazing shot on his right leg. A loud **_Thud!_** Sounded behind him and, acting on instinct, Forte rolled to the left, and narrowly dodged another plasma shot. Turning as he stood, Forte let loose three plasma bolts in the direction where the shot originated. The first two soared past, but Forte heard a grunt when the third one collided with something. He charged forward while charging his canon in hopes of closing distance, and to get out of the disorienting cloud, when he heard a _whoosh_ above him, and knew Rock had jumped behind him. He spun on spot and fired the shot, which seared through the air, creating a small vacuum in its wake, clearing up some of the dust. But the shot only hit the wall, and when he looked through the small clearing in the dust, he found a beam, near the size of Rock where he heard it land.

So surprised was he, that he never expected the fist that connected with the back of his head.

* * *

Roll could only look on helplessly as the two fought it out. She had come out her to see if she was right about Forte, to see if he wasn't all that bad. She was right. Sure he had quite and ego on him, that much was certain, but besides that, he was a fairly good guy. He was never the type to attack without reason, after all, he only had one person he truly wanted to fight, and he was surprisingly deep for someone who was an alleged psycho.

Most of all though, he seemed confused. Not about his lot in life, no he was fairly sure he had that covered, but about what other people did. He didn't seem to fully understand things like affection, and of course, why he never seemed to be able to beat Rock. That confusion seemed to lead to a constant anger, and a hatred for her blue brother. Yet, she couldn't really blame him for it, when he was built, and in the years since then, minus the one when he had been alone, he had been told to do nothing but destroy.

So now, here she was, sitting on the sidelines of a fight between her brother and her new friend, and a problem about that Rock hadn't finished telling her about, and all she could do was watch. She cringed as she watched Forte get a blaster shot point-blank to the abdomen.

Forte doubled over, but quickly pulled himself back up and rammed his elbow against the back of Rock's head. Now it was Rock's turn to double over, and Forte didn't waste the opportunity, he followed up by ramming his elbow in to the top of Rock's back, leaving him sprawling to the floor.

He quickly backed off to make sure that Rock couldn't retaliate. "Do you give up Rock?" Forte asked, though he was pretty sure that last hit had knocked Rock out.

Surprisingly, Rock started to stir again. Ah coughed and groaned as he brought him self to his hands and knees. It seemed so familiar to Forte, in every encounter in the past; Forte had always pushed Rock to the breaking point, brought him to his knees. Yet, somehow Rock always got back up somehow.

"How?" Forte asked. "How do you keep fighting!"

"Because if I don't," Rock replied, "people will get hurt."

"What does that have to do with anything!" Forte shouted in rage.

"Everything."

In rage, Forte charged at Rock, and only at the last moment did he notice Rock's blaster glowing blue. Rock quickly launched himself at Forte's knees, knocking him over the top of him, stood up, grabbed Forte by the leg, spun, and threw him into a wall. Looking at Rock, his vision fading, the last thing he saw, was a blue flash erupting from his blaster.

* * *

He had no idea how long he had been out, but when he opened his eyes, the sky was turning from red to violet.

"Good morning." A familiar voice said from nearby. He turned his head to see Roll sitting on the ground next to him, and saw Gospel next to her.

"What are you doing here?" Forte asked.

"Watching over you. Rock and me both thought that you wouldn't hold up to your end of the bargain so easily, so I convinced him to let me talk to you. That, and, well, I was just concerned for you." Roll explained.

Forte was confused for a moment, until he remembered the fight. He had lost again. In anger, he lifted his fist again and slammed it into the ground. "Damn it." He muttered.

"Hey," Roll said, "Don't be so hard on yourself. You put up a good fight. For a while there I wasn't sure who would win."

"But you knew he would come out on top in the end." Forte said.

"Well, he does have an advantage over you. He's six years older than you, and a lot of that time was spent fighting against Wily and the robot masters."

"Is that what separates us?" Forte asked, "Experience?"

"Well, I think that's part of it, but, there is more to it than that." Roll replied.

"What is it?" Forte asked, wondering if for once he was going to get a straight answer.

"I can't tell you. You need to figure that out on your own." Roll answered. No such luck it would seem.

"Everyone keeps saying that." Forte growled.

"Then maybe it's time you start listening." Roll said with an optimistic smile as she stood up. She extended her hand for him. "Come on."

Forte refused the help, "I can move fine on my own." He said as he sat up. Standing up, he stopped half way up as a pain from the recent fight presented itself. He grunted and nearly fell over, but Roll was quickly at his side to help him steady himself.

"Hey! Don't move too much, you were injured."

Forte shrugged off her help, "I said I can move on my own." He growled. Forte nearly made it five feet before he nearly fell over again, again Roll was there quickly to help.

"I told you to calm down!" She said as she pulled one of his arms over her shoulder.

"And I said I don't need your help." Forte replied as he again tried to shrug her off, but was quickly surprised as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Please… I don't want you to get hurt any more than you already are." She pleaded.

"Um… Roll?" Forte asked. He heard her giggle into his chest before she moved back to his side and took his arm over her shoulder.

"Don't worry Forte. It's called a hug." She explained.

A hug… he had seen humans do it sometimes when he sneaked through the city. He never quite understood what their point was. He assumed it was just a gesture between comrades.

"Um, Forte?"

"Yes?"

"You are going to help us, right?" Roll asked.

"Don't worry. I always keep up my end of the bargain." Forte replied.

"So… we go back to the lab?"

Forte sighed. He didn't want to see Rock or either of the old men again, but he had to keep a deal, and he needed repairs anyway. "I guess so."

"Okay!" Roll said in a chipper voice. Strangely, it seemed as if she was trying to cheer him up.

They approached the lab late that night, and were greeted by Blues standing at the front door.

"Well, it seems you decided to keep up your end of the bargain." He commented to Forte.

"You knew I would."

Blues chuckled softly, "Yes, I suppose I did. Rock and the others are already asleep, so you don't have to deal with any of them right now."

"Good." Forte muttered. He really didn't have what it took to deal with Wily then. Though he hated him, he knew at least Rock would understand to stay away for a while. Dr. Light, well he didn't know much about him.

Blues led them into the house, making sure to be quiet.

"Welcome home." Roll remarked to Forte happily.

"This is only temporary." Forte deadpanned.

"We'll see." Roll giggled.

She led him to one of the many guest rooms in the house, explaining that they had so many because they would occasionally be sent a robot that needed repairs, so they would usually let them stay a few day's.

"Well, here ya go." Roll said when they stopped in front of a door. "We have healing packs downstairs, you can get one tomorrow."

"I told you before, don't worry about me."

"You can tell me as many times as you want, it doesn't mean I'll listen." Roll retorted with a smile.

Forte sighed. She was an odd girl, by his standards.

"Good night." Roll said as she let Forte go to bed. "Hope you feel better tomorrow.

Gospel walked in first, and Forte followed. The room was empty with the exception of the small bed. It had no windows, a light on the ceiling, and nothing else. He couldn't deny that this was better conditions than he normally slept in. Without taking off any of his armor, he just flopped down on the mattress, and fell asleep.

* * *

CB: Whew. This took a long time to type up. Finally, the chapters get longer. You can probably expect them to get a bit longer, and definitively expect them to stay at least this long. Next chapter, the plot is going to start picking up until reaching a nice cruising speed. Please keep your seat trays up and your seat belts fastened, and keep all baggage out of the aisles. Please read and review. 


	8. Waking up

CB: Does anyone even read the authors notes? Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any products of Capcom.

* * *

Her eyes slowly fluttered as sunlight poured in from her window. She slowly sat up. Letting her unbound hair cascade down the back of her pink night-gown, making a slight noise as her bare feet came in contact with the floor. She slowly got dressed, and when she opened the door, she found Rock waiting for her.

"Good morning Roll." He greeted.

"Oh, good morning Rock. What are you doing outside my door?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

Roll sighed. "This is about Forte, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"Don't worry. He's in a guest room, and he has agreed to help, at least until this is all done and over with."

"Oh, good. Also, what were you doing there in the first place?"

"I… was trying to see if he really was all that bad."

"What did you find out?"

"He really isn't. His hatred seems to stem from something he doesn't understand."

"Huh. Wonder what it is."

"So do I. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a shower."

* * *

"You have to be kidding me." Blues commented.

"I kid you not." Wily replied as he took another sip of coffee.

They stood in the main lab, off to the side, while Dr. Light was cross examining the schematics of Axeman and X.

"But how is that possible." Blues asked.

"Well, time travel isn't really possible in the sense that most people believe. You see, most people believe that only one timeline exists, this simply isn't true. For every moment in time, a thousand alternate timelines exist."

"You mean like, one where some guy died and another where he didn't?"

"Yes, but, it's much more complex than that. An entire timeline can be created based on the most miniscule of things. Heck, one timeline could be created based on a grain of sand in the Sahara desert that moved a micro-millimeter to the left, and another on how it moved to the right."

"But how would that explain away a paradox?"

"Ah yes, that's where people always get stuck at. Again, it's only because people don't understand how time travel really works. People always assume that, if you were to go back in time and change something, then it would be changed in there own time, and they never would have went back in time in the first place, or they think that meeting yourself would be bad. But, throw in alternate timelines, and it becomes so much easier."

"Explain."

"You see, it is impossible to actually move through time and ever meet yourself. Instead, when you time travel, you don't actually move through your own timeline, you really just jump from one timeline to the next, and each timeline moves at a different pace. So, when you want to go back in time, you just pick a timeline that is currently t a place you want to be."

"But wouldn't that destroy one of the timelines?" Blues asked skeptically. "The laws of conservation of mass and of energy state that energy can never be created or destroyed, just converted from one form into another. So wouldn't introducing more of either have cataclysmic consequences?"

"Destroy an infinite universe? Yeah right. When you jump, you aren't introducing more of either, instead, you are replacing what you take out, and whatever you take out, replaces you. When you jump back, both go to their original timelines."

"What could be used as a replacement?" Blues asked.

"Anything really, as long as enough of it is there for an equivalent exchange. It could be a tree, a lot of grass, plasma in space, even another living being."

"So nothing that could be done would really affect either timeline." Blues reasoned.

"Well whatever timeline you messed with would certainly be messes up, and anything you pull into your original timeline and didn't put back might be able to mess with it." Albert explained.

"Albert." Thomas called as he approached. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt?"

"No, were just making small talk." Albert replied.

"I don't know much small talk that involves quantum mechanics." Dr. Light said.

"Rock once told me about a time when Wily did something with it, and I couldn't pass up the chance to ask how he did it." Blues explained.

"Ah yes, the time I…" Dr. Wily thought for a moment, "Oh, I can't seem to remember."

"How would you forget something like that?" Blues asked.

"Blues? I am over eighty. I'm allowed to be senile every one and awhile."

"Senility aside, I need your help Albert. I just discovered something very interesting."

"Dr. Light?" Blues asked.

"Yes Blues?"

"I need to contact someone, but I can't just teleport there right now, mind if I use the communicator?"

"Go right ahead, just be sure to use an encrypted signal."

* * *

Blues tapped several keys on the keyboard to send out the signal, and waited for the person on the other side reply.

The screen lighted up, and stood on the screen was a middle-aged man with reddish-brown hair and beard. "Oh, hello comrade Blues!" He said after a moment of surprise. "It has been quite a while since we last heard from you."

"Yeah, sorry Mikhail. Uncontrollable circumstances have prevented me from doing much."

"Which is code for Wily's up to his old tricks again," Dr. Cossack reasoned.

Blues smirked. "No, not old tricks."

* * *

Something he doesn't understand? Rock thought as he sat on the couch in the living room. He wore a blue t-shirt with blue jeans, out of his armor, but still in his color scheme.

What was it that Forte didn't understand? Then again, Rock himself wasn't sure how he always beat Forte. Every time they fought, Forte always came so close to winning, but when it came down to it, Rock always managed to come out on top. To the best of his knowledge, Rock only had two things that Forte didn't. The first was just more experience.

The problem with that was, even though Rock was older, Forte was still twice, nearly three times more powerful. He was faster, stronger, better armored, and had a quicker reaction time, so that should be able to compensate for the gap in experience.

The only other thing Rock had, was something to fight for. Never once had Rock ever fought without being provoked, and those fights were with Wily and his robot masters. Every time, the only thing that kept him going, was the knowledge that, if he were to fail, people would get hurt, the people he cared about would get hurt.

Was that what separated them? Why they fought? Rock knew that, when Forte fought, it was usually for a selfish desire to be known as the best, a matter of pride.

What would that mean now? If Dr. Light was right, and more robots as powerful as X were waiting to attack, what would forte's pride mean in a fight? Blues and himself had barely beat X together. Even then, Blues had to utilize his destabilized core, a process that was highly dangerous and easily fatal for Blues. Forte may be powerful, but they would still need to work together if they had any hope of succeeding.

A bark from the side drew him from his thoughts, and he looked over to see a red metallic dog with a metal ball in its mouth.

"Hey Rush, you wanna play?" Rock asked, as he got off the couch, glad for a short distraction.

* * *

His eyes shut open, and were greeted by the gray ceiling above him. Groaning slightly as his wounds from his last fight resurfaced, he slowly got out of bed. He looked over to see Gospel lying on the floor a few feet away, half awake, half asleep.

Gospel… he thought. That purple robotic wolf was the closest thing to a friend he had ever known. On a few occasions, Gospel had actually saved his life.

Deciding to let his sleep, Forte left the room on his own, but kept the door open so Gospel could get out later.

Carefully he descended the stairs, hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with anyone. He felt relieved when he noticed that no one was in the living room. As he descended the stairs, he heard the faint sound of running water, and he assumed that someone was taking a shower in the upstairs washroom. Suddenly the water stopped, and a few minutes later Roll walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed, but still toweling her hair off.

"Hey Forte." She said once she noticed him down stairs. "I see you're finally up."

"It's only ten A.M." Forte replied after he checked his internal clock. "I haven't been out that long.

She giggled at him, "I'm just messing with you," she said as she walked down the stairs. "Have you found those healing packs?"

"No, I wouldn't know where to start looking."

"Oh, they're right over here." She explained as she walked over to a small metal box. She opened it, pulled out a canister, and tossed it at Forte. "Catch."

He did, quite easily. He then popped the needle on the top of the can, and injected it into his neck. Energy, or healing packs, are actually a mixture of the liquids that act as a robots blood, and several hundred nano machines which heal the body from the inside, then dissipate. "Thanks." He said.

"No problem." Roll said as she tossed her used towel into the laundry room. "So, what do you plan on doing today?"

"What do you mean? I'm going to do whatever is needed until the new robots are dealt with." Forte responded as if the answer should be obvious.

She sighed, "You do know that you aren't a servant here, right? You can still do whatever you want, just as long as you are here when you are needed."

"And for all we know, they could attack any minute now."

"Forte? Do you spend every day thinking that everyone is out to get you? If they were going to attack us at our home, if they even knew where we live, they would have attacked while we were asleep."

"A lot of people are after me, remember?"

"That was a year ago Forte, With all the stuff Wily did, you never got much coverage on the news. Very few people even know your name."

"But everyone knows my face."

"No, they no your armor design. So take it off, because you coming with me while I run my errands in the city." Roll said with a smirk.

"What?"

"You heard me." She said, her smile not diminishing in the least. "I need to go to the city, and I need you to go with me to act an escort in case any of them do attack."

"Couple of things wrong with that. One, I don't have any other clothes. Two, if I don't have my armor, I can't protect you. Three, Why don't you just take Rock or Blues with you?"

"One," She replied, "We have clothes that we keep her for Blues that he doesn't use. Two, we have a pod that, when you step into it, takes off your armor and teleports it to you when you need it. Three, those two have stuff they need to do here, and you pretty much just said you don't have anything else to do. Besides, you don't have to, I'm just asking you as a friend to."

"We're friends now?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Roll seemed hurt by the question. "Aren't we?"

Forte actually felt bad about hurting her like that. She had shown him nothing but kindness, and he did consider her a friend, but it seemed odd that they were friends.

"Well, yes but, shouldn't you hate me with how often I fight your brother?"

"Forte… I can't hate you just because you dislike my brother. Anyway, I think theirs more to the story than either of you know."

Again people talk in riddles… Forte thought. Still, he had a nagging feeling in the back of his head that he couldn't outright deny the assessment.

"Alright" Forte said, "I'll go."

"Great!" She said with a sudden wide smile.

Forte sighed, she was a very confusing girl.

* * *

"What is it Tom?" Wily asked as he inspected the mark Thomas had found in the machinery.

It was odd; it looked like a **_W_** mixed with an **_L_**. Both of their symbols, on an odd red and blue background.

"I am not sure, but I have a feeling it has a meaning." Thomas explained.

"Hmm" Wily mused, "It would seem whoever made this robot, is posing as both of us."

"But who would do that? The only people that our names would have any meaning to know us by our faces."

"Well, maybe it just means that they are just trying to copy both of our styles. Those modifications that were made to accommodate his size certainly seemed like my work."

"But who would have access to both of our building styles? I have never released my information, and all of the robots you have built were all destroyed with the exception of Forte."

"Yes, speaking of the boy, where is he?" Wily asked without looking up from the mark.

"Ah, yes, I believe Roll wanted to take him with her as she went into the city." Dr. Light said.

"Hmph. I don't know why, he would never help anyone."

"Now Albert, he has agreed to help us." Thomas reminded him.

"Only because it benefits him." Albert countered, "He may protect her, but he won't help her."

Thomas sighed, "Let's just worry about what we can learn from."

* * *

"Do you expect me to believe this?" Dr. Cossack asked.

"I know you may find it hard to believe, but he really does have good intentions." Blues replied.

"He kidnapped my daughter…" Mikhail said.

"I know, but I know she forgives him."

"What?"

"Look, it would take even longer to explain-"

"Don't bother." Dr. Cossack interrupted. "We will see for ourselves."

"What?" Blues asked.

"I do not trust Dr. Wily, so Kalinka and myself are going to come over to make sure he doesn't do anything. I hope Tom won't mind, but I need to make sure he doesn't do anything wrong."

"No, I don't think he would mind, but I'll go make sure."

"Good" Dr. Cossack said as he turned off the communicator.

Blues sighed, this just got more and more complicated.

* * *

CB: Wow. I just keep making these things longer. Just so you all know, yes that is why I haven't updated recently. The site says I have been updating, but that's because I repeatedly uploaded the last chapter because it kept on dissipearing, and as I update this, an announcement that explains the problem shows up. Wish I would have known about that earlier. Read and review, and tell me what you think about the story so far 


	9. Remembrance

CB: A huge thank you to all of my reviewers! RandyPandy, Tatzu-zzmage, shadowneko003, starscreammega, … some person who signed T0, and Archaon! You all rock! Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any products of Capcom, I do own this storyline.

* * *

"Well I suppose it can be expected." Dr. Light sighed. "He may be able to help us while he is here." 

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Blues asked.

"We have guest rooms. And the more people we have working on this, the more likely we will find an answer." Dr. Light replied.

"I doubt he will actually help us, he's just coming to make sure I don't do something." Dr. Wily said. "Though I don't know how he would stop me even if I planned to."

"What do you mean?" Blues asked.

"I mean he would have no means to stop me, he got out of the advanced robotics field years ago to make sure I wouldn't use him again."

"He may not officially work in the field anymore, but he is still considered to be the third greats roboticist the world has ever known, and if we can convince him of what you were really doing, I'm sure he would don the lab coat again." Dr. Light.

"He may become the fourth soon." Blues commented.

"Excuse me?"

"Kalinka has been catching up ever since she repaired all of the Robot Masters that were destroyed during the fourth attack. They all work in the fields they were meant to now." Blues explained.

"Remarkable, isn't she only seventeen?" Dr. Light asked.

"She is quite bright, regardless of her age, and been very talented since she was young." Blues replied.

"You seem to know quite a bit about her." Dr. Wily commented.

"I spend some time there every once in a while."

A door opening off to the side opening interrupted their conversation, and Forte stood in the doorway.

"Um, hey." He started uncertainly, still seeming nervous about approaching his one-time enemies. "Roll told me something about a pod?"

* * *

Roll waited outside for Forte with a broad smile on her face. She could hardly believe she had actually gotten him to come with her! She had actually believed he was going to stay in his room and mope. Forte was right earlier though, she could have just gotten Rock to go with her, but she felt a need as a friend to help him up some more. After all, with the exception of Gospel, Roll was fairly sure he didn't have any other friends, and while she knew the value of an animal companion, she knew sometimes a person just needs to talk to someone who can talk back. 

The sound of the front door opening drew her from her thoughts, and she looked over to see Forte closing the door behind him. He wore a simple white t-shirt, with sand brown pants, nothing really remarkable on him except his purple hair. Yet, while it was an odd color, it seemed to fit him well. And while she tried to keep her attention on his face, she couldn't help but notice the rest of his body. The shirt was somewhat tight on him, sense he was taller than Blues, and it showed off his well-toned chest and arms. Overall he looked… hansom.

"Roll?" Forte asked, snapping her back to attention. "Are you all right?"

She was confused for a moment why he would ask such a question, until she noticed the heat on her cheeks. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Um, yeah, just dazed out there for a second."

"Okay…" Forte said in an uncertain tone. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go" She replied as she started leading the way.

For a while they walked in silence, Roll to embarrassed to speak, and Forte not really sure what to say.

"Roll?" He asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you something. You, Rock, and Blues all seem pretty tall for ten years old, and according to the old man, that's what you were all built as."

"Well yeah, dad wasn't going to make us stay ten forever, we all have upgraded bodies. Rock's and my own bodies are modeled around sixteen, Blues… well, we're not really sure how he gets upgraded since dad's never worked on him, but he seems to have the body of a twenty year old." Roll explained. "What age are you modeled after?"

"About seventeen." He replied, "Another thing I wanted to ask you was, why was Rock collecting all those bolts last time?"

"Oh, I would melt them down to make them into new parts." Roll explained, glad that they were talking instead of walking in an awkward silence.

"Why not just use the scrap from the robots he destroyed?"

"Because that would like a human cutting off a dead guys arm to use as his own." Roll said in disgust. "You've never done that have you?"

He looked off to the side, avoiding her gaze.

"Forte…?"

He sighed, "Look, on a battlefield you have to make do with what you can, there is no room for civility."

"Oh… sorry." Roll said in a soft voice.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I know what I've done, and I don't want anyone's pity for it." Forte spat.

"It's not pity." She said, "It's concern and sympathy from a friend."

"You don't have to be concerned about me." Forte retorted.

"You're right, I don't have to, but I do because I like you." Roll replied.

"What?" A stunned Forte asked.

Roll blushed once she realized what that sounded like. "No! I don't mean like that! I mean I mean I like you as a friend!" She quickly explained.

"Oh, well… thanks." Forte muttered while scratching the back of his head and looking off to the side.

Roll took some solace in the fact that he seemed as uncomfortable as her, but remained silent as to refrain from making things even more awkward.

* * *

"This is good, comrade. We shall see you in about a week." Dr. Cossack said. 

"We'll be waiting, and tell Kalinka I said hi." Blues replied.

"Actually she just walked in, here let me go get her, Kalinka!" He called as he walked off screen. A few moments later a blond teenager, nearly a women, walked onscreen.

"Hey Bluesy!" She said with a broad smile, using a name she had come up with a few years back to playfully annoy him.

"Hey Kali." Blues replied with a smirk.

"You know it's been a while since you last visited." She said.

"I know, but I've been needed here. I Planned in visiting a few days ago, but then we were attacked and I decided that it would be for the best if the one who defeated the assailant were to stay around."

"What? An attack? Is everyone alright?" A distressed Kalinka asked.

"Calm down Kali, the first time was more of a malfunction than an actual attack. The second one wasn't actually an attack on, but we have a theory that it did happen to catch our attention." Blues explained. "No one has been injured.

She exhaled a breath she had been holding in. "Good. Now then, what was it that dad was talking about us going over to you guys?"

"Listen, Albert has switched sides again, and Mikhail wants to make sure that he doesn't try anything."

"Oh, I never expected him to switch sides, at least not this soon." Kalinka said, sounding only partially surprised.

"I know, none of the others expected it, in fact, he only came over here to help because Dr. Light asked him to."

"Oh… You know that dad's out of the room, right?"

"Yes, and?"

She stayed silent for a moment while rocking back and forth on her heels. "…I'll be expecting a reply when we get there you know."

Blues sighed, "I know."

"Good, see you soon." She said as the screen turned off.

Blues remembered what the question had been, though she hadn't really asked anything.

* * *

He stood upon a hillock not very far away from the Cossack compound. Blues didn't know why he felt like he had to leave so soon, he had only been there a couple weeks, he just had a foreboding feeling that he was needed elsewhere. A great change would soon befall the world, but the red and gray android had no clue what it could be. Like many of the problems in the world though, he planned to remain an outside player. 

The sound of snow crunching behind him drew him from his thoughts. He turned around to see Kalinka, dressed in her usual red full body coat, standing a few yards away with her hands behind her back. Parts of her shoulder length blond hair were white with snow, as she opted to come out without her hat.

"Hey Bluesy." She said, using a pet name she had come up with a few years prior, nearly a year after Dr. Wily had kidnapped her.

Hen they had first met, Kalinka had seemed scares, and greatly put off by his usually cold demeanor during those times when he was to guard her. She had warmed up to him considerably though after he had rescued her when Rock had entered the complex.

Blues had personally brought Kalinka back to Mikhail, and in his gratitude, he had given his newest invention, Beat, to the Light family in thanks for saving his daughter.

Shortly after that warm reunion, Mikhail had been called forward by the International Robotics Committee. He had pleaded to Blues to take care of his daughter until he got back, or if they imprisoned him, to find someone who could take care of her. Blues had accepted, and a few days later, he was off to face his crimes.

Kalinka dearly loved her father, and to say she was nervous about what they might do to him would have been an understatement. The first day, all she had done was cry, and the next few days hadn't been much better.

By the fourth day, Blues had felt the need to try and cheer her up. He tried taking her on a walk, hoping the fresh air might help her feel a little more comfortable. It took awhile, but Blues had finally been able to get her out of her depressed state of mind for a moment when he asked if she wanted to play in the snow. He had never been much for playing games, but he felt he should make an exception just this once. The first thing she did was start a snowball fight with him which ended with him allowing her to tackle him to the ground, and she had been giggling all the while.

A few days later, Mikhail came back, absolved of his crimes. He had said he believed it was because they knew he had been blackmailed, but even then Blues had his doubts. He found out later that Mikhail had gotten off the hook because Dr. Wily himself had pleaded in his favor.

Ever since that day Blues had often visited them during different times of the year. He had watched as Kalinka grew older, became closer to her and Mikhail, they were actually a couple of the few people he would consider friends. Oddly enough, Kalinka started a snowball fight with him every time he showed up.

"What are you doing out here? She asked, bringing him back to reality.

"Nothing." He replied simply.

"Blues I know you better than that." She said with a smile. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing important."

"Oh." She said with a smirk, and from the twitch her arms made, Blues knew what was about to happen. "Calm down, I don't have anything behind my back." She told him as she slowly pulled her arms from behind her back to show her empty black-gloved hands.

He relaxed and turned his attention back towards the sky.

"It's in my pocket."

He quickly turned his head back to her, only to have a snowball make contact with his visor. He quickly wiped it off, and found Kalinka was no longer standing in front of him. He did a quick scan of the field, trying to guess her next move. Blues ducked to dodge an incoming snowball from his right side, and quickly pulled off his shield and swept a large pile of snow to the right. He quickly scooped up as much snow as he could, and dived as closely to her direction as he could relative to her last throw. Catching her in his sights, he quickly hurled the snowball at her, it connected, and she fell to the ground.

He quickly walked over to her to see if she was alright, and was quickly tackled by her, and like that day five years, he let her win. In fact, the only reason the first snowball made contact was because he let it. Her face was mere inches way from his as they lay there.

"Alright, you won, mind getting off now?" Blues asked.

"In a moment." She said. He was confused for a moment, until her head quickly tilted to the side and her head fell the rest of the way, letting her lips rest on his for but a moment. "See you soon." She said quietly as she stood up, and walked off without giving an explanation.

* * *

"What are we going to do?" Thomas asked. "If they were to attack again, I'm not sure that Rock, Blues, and Forte combined will be able to take them on if they attack in bulk, and we can't reactivate X this early, not until we have fixed the problem that the X-strain has created." 

"What do you think we should do?" Albert replied, "Create another version of X, that's what. Now, I'm thinking something in red."

* * *

CB: All right, sorry I haven't updated recently, but I haven't been able to access my computer much. Luckily, I think the length of this chapter, slightly, makes up for it. Also, sorry if Blues seems a little OOC, but we all have times when we are a little out of character when we are with good friends. 


	10. City

_**CB: Yes I know, late again, very late. Unfortunately, this will not change for another week, more explanation later. Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any products of Capcom.**_

* * *

The hustle and bustle of the city, ad the close quarters everyone was in the packed streets somewhat unnerved Forte for multiple reasons. Roll on the other hand seemed to not mind at all, as long as Forte didn't get away from her. 

"Hey, you're lagging behind like, six feet, pick up the pace a little." Roll said with a smile.

Forte sighed and complied. "I'm not used to being in large groups of people, okay?"

"I know, and that's part of the reason why I wanted you to come."

"What?"

"I'm trying to make you less awkward around people."

"Why?"

"So you don't always have to be alone."

"Roll, I am constantly alone because I choose to be, not because I can't get along with people." Forte replied.

She turned around and gave him a deadpan look. "You're a terrible liar, did you know that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The reason you don't have any friends is more than just choice and you know it. You stay away because you're scared." Roll explained.

"Scared? Why would I be scared of anyone here? I can outfight everyone here, I just don't like people." Forte retorted.

"I don't mean like that." Roll sighed. "Just… never mind, let's go"

"Fine, but what are we doing here?" Forte asked.

"I just need to pick some things up from a couple stores." She replied. "You know, food, spare parts, that kind of stuff."

"Hey!" A voice with a New Yorker accent from the other side of the street, near a building that was still under construction called out. "Yo Roll!"

She quickly turned her head to find the caller, "Hey John!" She called back. He looked around thirty, with a yellow hard hat on. He was somewhat round around the waist, but had muscular arms.

"Hey, get over here!" He called.

"Come on." She said to Forte as she stated walking across the street.

"Who is that?"

"A friend of mine."

"Hey girl, how you been?" John asked as they approached him.

"I've been pretty good lately." Roll replied.

"Good ta heah. Who's ya boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend." She said somewhat defensively. "He's just a friend."

"I know," He chuckled, "Calm down I's just playin with you. But youse didn't answer my question."

"Oh! This is, um…" She thought, apparently trying not to use his real name.

"Derrick." Forte interrupted.

"Huh." John said, seeming a little suspicious. "Okay… anyways, think youse two could help us with a little something?" He asked.

"Sure. What is it?" Roll asked.

"Eh, just a bit of heavy lifting, we needs ta take a small girder up, and I knows how strong yous are." He explained.

"Okay. Are you coming Derrick?" She asked Forte with a small smile.

Forte just gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Are you sure he can help lift this thing?" He asked as he lead them through the unfinished building.

"Yeah I'm sure." She said.

"If yous says so." John said.

"Is that it?" She asked as they approached a small girder lying on the floor.

"Yeah, dang thing fell from the top cause the boys was being to lazy to weld it on before we started working somewheres else."

"Okay then." She said as she walked over and lifted one end. "What?" She asked when she saw Forte's confused expression. "I may be a girl, but I'm still an android."

Forte just shrugged again as he walked over to the other end and lifted it easily.

"Whoa…" John said, surprised. "Is yous another android?"

"Yes." Forte replied simply.

"Another Light one, rights?" John asked.

"Um… kinda." Roll said, hoping to end the conversation.

The job was relatively easy, so they were back on the street fairly quickly. "See yous two later!" John called after them.

"Okay!" Roll called back happily.

"Why did you say I was a light bot?" Forte asked.

"Because we can't let anyone know who your real father is." She was cut off as a rock sailed past her head.

"Get out of here you worthless buckets of bolts!" Some drunken man shouted from the other side of the street. "We don't want none of your kind here!"

"Hey, buddy!" They heard John shout from behind them. "Buzz off!"

"Screw you man! These metal people are a plague!" The drunkard shouted back.

"Yous aint makin' a smart move heres." John warned.

"I shaid, shut up!" He shouted as he hurled another rock at Roll's head, which was only caught in front of her face by Forte. He slowly tightened his grip on the rock until it crushed in his hand.

"You have five seconds to run." Forte growled loudly.

The drunken man sobered quickly, then quickly turned and ran.

"Thanks." Roll said quietly.

Forte just grunted as he dropped his arm. "That's why I hate humans."

"Hey, yous guys alrights." John asked as he approached.

"Yeah, we're fine." Roll replied.

"Good, shouldn't yous guys get home soon? It's Saturday and people are always getting rowdy 'round this time." John said.

"What? It's only three in the afternoon." Forte said.

"Well here that don't mean much anymore, people been getting more angry lately."

"Don't worry about us, we can take care of ourselves." Roll said.

"Alrights…" He said uncertainly before walking off.

"So that's why you dislike people so much?" Roll asked Forte once she was sure John was out of shouting distance.

"They're all bigots who hate everything that isn't made of flesh and bone."

"They're not all like that…" Roll replied. "Dad and Dr. Wily don't."

Forte gave her a stern look. "My old man is probably the worst of them."

"…Forte? Do you know why your father did what he did? Why he treated you like that?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" He growled.

Roll sighed, she could only hope he would believe her.

* * *

**_CB: Ack, short chapter I know, but I have my reasons. A few things to address, first, sorry if I offended anyone with my try at a New York accent, the only big city accent I have heard is a Brooklyn-German one. Second the reason I haven't been updating recently, is because a bunch of stuff is happening with the family right know, and I haven't had much time for writing. Third, the reason I may not be able to update for a week is because we're going out of state tonight, and won't be back for a week. This does come with some good news though. See, I have a journal that I write these chapters in before I type them up that I use during my free time. Since we'll be out of state, I am going to have a lot of free time to fully think out these chapters, and, hopefully, make them longer, so expect a lot of chapters when I get back._**


	11. Shadows

**_CB: Sorry about the lack of updates, the site hasn't been letting me upload anything._**

* * *

Forte just gave Roll a blank stare, then shook his head. "What?" 

"It's true, Blues confirmed it." Roll said.

Forte just kept on shaking his head, "No, he, no. There is no way in hell he would do something honorable like that."

"He never told you, did he?" Roll asked softly.

"Do you really think that matters to me?" Forte spat back. "All the crap he did to me, and everyone else, and the fact that he had a reason makes it all go away?"

"No, it wasn't alright, but-"

"I don't really care!" Forte cut her off.

"Forte… what did he do to you to make you hate him so much?" Roll asked softly.

"Forget it Roll, let's just get this little trip over with."

"Oh no. You are not dodging the question." Roll said with her hands on her hips.

"I'm not dodging the question." Forte said.

"Then what do you call this?"

"Trying not to make a scene." Forte deadpanned.

She stood confused for a moment until she remembered that they were still in public. "Fine, but this conversation isn't over."

* * *

"Are you sure about this Albert?" Thomas asked. "If we make a version more powerful than X, then what will we do if he gets infected?" 

"Geez, aren't I supposed to be the pessimist?" Albert asked.

"I know that I'm not usually this antsy, but, well…"

"Well what?"

Dr. Light sighed, "I only hope that the IRC never finds out about this, because X alone would be seen as too dangerous in their eyes."

"Well, yes, I can see that as a problem, but they probably won't get involved. Especially after what happened a few weeks ago." Dr. Wily said.

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you heard? The top members of the IRC were assassinated. No evidence of whom it could be other than very thin slits through their hearts. The entirety of the committee is still in turmoil because they never really planned for anything other than natural deaths." Dr. Wily explained.

"Oh my god." Dr. Light said. "I-I've been so caught up in my work with X that…"

"Bah." Albert said "Don't worry about it, it won't effect us. Now then, back to matters at hand."

"Ah yes, do you have a way to restrain him if he does become infected?"

"I plan on adding a failsafe, similar to the one I have in Forte. It will send high voltage currents through his body until he's immobilized, and then shut him down."

"That sounds very… painful." Thomas commented. "Isn't there a better way?"

"Unfortunately no." Dr. Wily sighed. "With how powerful and advanced this one will be, a flat out shut down might destroy him."

"Well what does it look like?"

"Just a gem on the forehead, Forte has one on his helmet."

"Will one be enough?"

"Probably not, so we should probably add a couple more, most likely on the chest to make sure it can get the servos." Albert explained.

"Are you absolutely sure it will stop him?" Thomas asked.

"Without a doubt." Albert assured him.

Thomas looked thoughtful for a moment. "We could probably upgrade the Mark 10 that X uses."

"Or maybe not…" Albert said slyly.

Thomas smirked when he saw the growing grin on Albert. "I know that look, so I should probably leave the room for a moment."

"Why?" He asked as he started chuckling.

"Because you're maniacal laughter gets quite loud."

* * *

"Um… Forte?" Roll asked. 

"I told you to save it Roll." Forte said without turning his head toward her.

"No it's not that, it's that, well.."

"Spit it out Roll."

"We just passed the store I need to go to." She said.

"Oh." He said as he stopped in his tracks, his anger seeming to diffuse under the weight of sudden embarrassment. "Er, sorry…"

"It's okay, I know you have a lot on your mind."

"Um-" Forte was cut off as a yelling man ran down the streets towards them.

"Hey toilet pixie lady!" He called.

"What?" Forte asked incredulously.

"Um… that's Twigsby. I'm not really sure how to explain him." She said.

"Toilet pixie lady! How have" he stopped once he saw Forte. "Are you the government! Are you after my rice baked potatoes!"

"No Twigsby, he's not with the government, he's a friend of mine." Roll said.

"You must be Sarky Mctaquitochip! Very nice to meet you!" He said while fixing the beanie on his head and dusting off his heavy green full-body jacket. "It has been nice, but I'm afraid French fries and oyster monkeys call me to their domain." He shouted before running off.

"… What the hell was that about?" Forte asked.

"That was Twigsby." She said simply. "He was a bit calmer today than usual."

"I think I might be able to explain him, he's insane!"

"Probably." Roll said while scratching the back of her head.

* * *

The ball soared through the air, only to be caught in the air by Rush. 

"Good boy!" Rock cheered with a smile.

"Rock." A voice from directly behind him suddenly said. He literally jumped and turned to find Blues standing a few feet behind him.

"Don't do that!" He shouted. Blues just smirked.

"Sure, I just came out here to tell you that the Cossacks are going to be stopping by for awhile in a week."

"Really? Great! It's been awhile since I've seen any of them." Rock said happily.

"Good." Blues said. "Be sure to tell Roll and Forte once they get back."

"Sure, but what are you going to be doing?"

"I have some things I need to take care of."

* * *

Twigsby walked happily paranoid down the alley, whistling off key a song he had made up about the government being after his cheese dip. 

"Halt." A voice from inside the alley said.

"Huh? Who's there? Are you the government?" He asked suspiciously.

"I work for only one authority, and your government is not it." The voice replied.

"Then who are you? And what do you want?"

"I want to know why you seem to be immune to my friends effects." Another voice said.

"What effects? Are you talking about my farty juice?"

"…Ugh, I'd rather not know you simpleton." The first voice said.

"Don't worry, you don't really have to comply." The second voice, one with a sadistic edge to it, said.

"What ar-" He was cut off as a leather-bound hand shot out of the shadows and latched onto his face and glowed an amethyst light.

"Well?" The second voice asked.

"It is as I thought. His mind is to broken to effect like the others." The first voice answered.

"Can you control him by other means?"

"Hmph! You seem to forget just who you're talking to." The first voice answered haughtily.

"I know who I address. A man who thinks too highly of himself given his circumstances." The second voice replied.

The first voice growled. "Do you have any specific use for this simple fool, 'your majesty'? He asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes…" The second voice answered chuckling, "Things are about to get much hotter in this city."

* * *

"Okay!" Roll said as they approached the forest they came from. "That's everything." 

"Good, now we can get out of here." Forte replied as he entered the forest.

An hour in, Roll decided to ask the question that had been on her mind since earlier that day. "Forte?"

"Yeah?"

"You still have to answer the question." She said.

"I said stow it Roll." He retorted immediately.

She wasn't going to let it drop at that. She ran ahead of him and stood directly in front of him. "No! I am not just going to ignore this!" She demanded.

"Roll…" He growled.

"No! I don't care what type of threat you give, I know it will be empty."

"Do you know what it's like to have your own father hate you?" Forte whispered loud enough for her to hear.

"W-What?" She asked.

"Do you!" He shouted, taking a step forward and making her fall a step back.

"I… I-"

"Has Dr. Light ever threatened to turn you into scrap metal for failing something the first time you do it? Were his first words to you, 'get up you worthless scrap, I've got a job for you'? Have you ever been broken and bleeding, and the most he gives you is a scornful look? Well?" He ranted on staring her directly in the eye.

"I-"

"No, of course you haven't. Your father actually gave a damn about whether you lived or died. Listen, my past is my concern; you have no right prying into it."

"I'm sorry." She said softly.

"I told you before, I don't want your pity."

"And I told you before, it's sympathy. I'm sorry that you had to go through like that. I can't actually say I know what it feels like, but, I do know you're not alone anymore, not everyone you know hates you." She said.

He calmed down lightly "Listen, do not ask about-" He was cut off as Roll's body quickly came forward and her arms wrapped around his waist. "What?"

"Sorry to surprise you" She said. "But it just felt like you needed one."

"I'm not letting you go so soon, so you might as well get comfy." She said with a chuckle.

"Fine." Forte sighed as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. It felt… strangely nice, he noticed.

"See? Was that so hard?" She asked.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"You've never returned a hug before, feels nice, doesn't it?" She clarified.

"…Yeah." He said hesitantly.

* * *

Twigsby stumbled through the night streets, carrying a container of gasoline, wide eyed and at full attention. He knew what he had to do; he had to please his master. 

He found the backdoor of his destination locked; he merely picked up a nearby rock and smashed the lock open. He dragged himself down to the lowest levels of the basement, carrying his rock and canister. The room was dark, and full of pipes and handles. He started turning all of them up to maximum output, then picked up his rock and started banging pipes open, filling the air with gas.

He proceeded to pour the canister of gasoline on the floor, pipes, and himself, drenching his clothes. Then, finally, he pulled out one final item that his master had given him, a matchbook.

* * *

An explosion ripped through the air, the sound deafening, the building falling in all directions, it's remnants in flames. A sign fell from the sky that said one thing. 

"Winchester Hospital."

* * *

**_CB: Take notes kiddies; this will be on the test. Man, I'm real sorry I haven't been updating recently, even though I've been home for about a week, but life gets in the way ya know? I won't waste your time with a rant._**


	12. First

_**CB: ACK! I suck, I know. It's been too long since I updated, (Especially considering the length of these things.) But I've been trying to make these longer, but it doesn't seem to work. Disclaimer: I don't own Megaman or any products of Capcom.**_

* * *

"Welcome Mikhail and Kalinka!" Dr. Light greeted warmly as they entered the airport.

"Well met comrade!" Mikhail greeted back, carrying luggage in a rolling case.

"And welcome to you too, Kalinka."

"Glad to meet you." she said happily.

Mikhail wore green turtleneck sweater with blue khakis, while Kalinka wore her trademark red coat with blue jeans.

"Here, let me get those." Rock said, indicating their bags.

"Thank you" Mikhail said. "Now then Thomas, where is the traitorous bastard." He asked with a hint of venom in his voice.

"Father…" Kalinka sighed.

"What? He is." He said.

Kalinka sighed, "Nothing."

Don't worry, Blues, Roll, and Forte are watching over him." Thomas said.

"Forte?" Mikhail asked.

* * *

Roll sat on one side of the couch with Forte on the opposite, both watching the T.V., while Blues stood off to the side.

On the T.V was a shot of the remains of a hospital, burnt and scattered. "Police have still found no motive for this recent crime, and have still not been able to identify many of the charred remains." The T.V. newscaster said.

"How did this happen?" Roll asked quietly.

"If they knew, they would have said." Forte replied.

"Forte…" Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by a knock on the door. She got up and opened it, to be greeted by two men in black suits.

"Hello, is a doctor Thomas Light here?" One of the two men asked.

"No, not at the moment, but if you want, you can leave a message." She said warily.

"No need, this may work out for the best. You and the other robots at this facility need to come with us." The man said.

"What? Why?" She asked warily.

"We have some questions we need to ask. I'm sure you have heard of the recent event at the hospital? Well, an eyewitness says they saw a homeless person that lives in the alleys nearby break into it just before the explosion, a person that you were apparently friends with." The man explained.

"You mean Twigsby?" She asked, alarmed.

"If that's what he calls himself." The man agreed. "Now if you wouldn't mind coming with us…"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that." She said.

"You're not really being given a choice, so quietly-"

"Robotics law section 4, article 3, no robot may be taken or sold without the express and written consent of the creator." She cut him off.

The man growled and turned to his other companion, "We'll be back robot, you have many questions to answer."

She closed the door with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Who were they?" She heard Forte ask from behind her.

"A part of the government not comfortable with the idea of robots." She said. "They always try to get us shut down, and I know they're just going to find this as a way for more leverage against us, and probably get dad's lab shut down." She plopped down on the couch, staring at her lap.

Forte wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. There she was, just sitting there, obviously distressed for multiple reasons, and he wasn't how he could help her. Well… he had seen an odd interaction between the humans before, and he guessed it couldn't hurt. He slowly raised his hand and laid it on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

Her head shot up and quickly turned to him, apparently shocked by the contact, he quickly took that as bad and tried to pull his hand back, but she caught it quickly.

"Thanks." She said with a small smile.

Suddenly the door flew open and Rock burst in. "Guys! Are you all right?" He asked, worried.

"Yes, don't worry, no one was hurt." Roll said

Rock let out a breath that Forte doubted he even knew he was holding. "Good, because we saw that black car and… um" Rock stopped short and just looked at them curiously.

Roll too look perplexed, until she looked where Rock was staring, to find her hand holding Forte's to her shoulder. She quickly brushed his hand away and brought her own too her lap, blushing all the while.

"Rock! Is everyone all right?" Thomas asked as he entered behind Rock.

"Uh, yeah, no injuries or anything" he said at only half attention.

"Comrade what was that about?" A third voice asked.

"Nothing to worry about, hopefully Mikhail." Thomas replied. "Now come on, we'll show you both around the house, Rock, Blues, uh, Blues?" Thomas asked when he noticed he wasn't in the room.

"Damn it," Rock cursed. "His Batman routine is running thin."

* * *

They drove down the beaten path, every so often a low hanging branch scratching the top of their car. "How the hell are we gonna get those piles of scraps?" Agent Johnson asked his partner who was behind the wheel. He only shrugged in response. Seeing as his bald friend was going to be as talkative as ever, he merely sighed, running a hand through his slicked back black hair. Suddenly the car screeched to a halt, nearly sending Johnson's head into the dashboard.

"Hey man what the hell-" He stopped short when he looked forward, to see a man in a cloak.

"Hello good sirs, I'd like to make a proposition."

* * *

"And here's your room Kalinka." Rock said as he showed her a room in the hallway.

"Thank you" she said politely before entering with her bag and closing the door behind her. She lifted her bag a set on her bed, opening it and went about methodically unpacking her things. Suddenly, she felt an unexplained chill down her spine, an odd feeling, but she liked it, because she knew what it meant. "Hello Blues." She said, without turning around.

"How did you know?" She heard him ask from behind.

"Because I know you." She replied simply. Slowly, she turned around, to see him leaning against a wall at the corner of the room. "Well?"

"We haven't been attacked in over a week, so-"

"Blues." She cut him off. "You know that's not what I'm asking."

He let out a heavy sigh. Slowly, he moved his hand up to his helmet, gently sliding off of his head, loosing his brown hair and blue eyes, allowing her too see his face. Blues…?" He didn't answer, just slowly walked towards her, closing the distance between them. "Um…" She was cut off as he reached up and cupped her cheek. She was about too open her mouth again, but Blues quickly set his lips against hers, kissing her lightly. She wasted no time after she recovered to wrap her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss. They broke off a moment a later, leaving Kalinka with a content smile.

"I love you." Blues said quietly.

"I love you too." She said with closed eyes.

* * *

"So this is what you do know you traitorous bastard?" Mikhail said wit venom in his voice.

"Ah, hello there Mikhail," Albert responded calmly while barley turning away from his work, "I didn't hear you come in."

"Don't you mock me you dog!" Mikhail retorted.

"Who's mocking?"

"Why you!"

"Calm down! Both of you!" Thomas ordered. "This is my house, and I will not have people tearing each other apart in it!"

Mikhail let out a 'hmph' while Albert merely shrugged.

"Now Mikhail, as a friend, I need you too listen carefully…"

Forte walked silently through the halls of the house. Even though he had been living there for a week, he still didn't have a feel of the entire facility. He walked down an as of yet unexplored hallway, only to notice a window that led out to the top of the slanted roof. Curious, he opened it and scanned the rooftop, noticing the sunset, but searching more to find Roll sitting with her knees to her chest watching the descending star. She quickly turned her head towards him, apparently noticing the sound of the window opening.

"Oh, hey Forte." She greeted.

"Oh, sorry, I'll go-"

"No, wait." She cut him off. "Come over here and sit with me."

"Okay…" He said uncomfortably as he complied with her request. He sat down a few feet away from her.

"I come out here too think sometimes." She said out of nowhere. "The sight is calming." She turned her head out towards the setting sun once again..

Forte followed her gaze out towards the horizon, and found her claim too be true. The sight was calming. Somehow the few fingers of the waning sun seemed to reach right into the mind and slow it down, forcing it to cause thoughts to move by one at a time. At that moment, he could have found out a multitude of things about himself, who he was, why he did what he did, why he hated Rock. Or, at least he could, if the sunrays hadn't decided to leave his thoughts on the young women beside him.

"What did you come out here too think about?" Forte asked.

"Nothing really." She said in sort of a half daze.

Forte couldn't help but look at her then, nor could he help but notice how beautiful she looked when the sun reflected off of her eyes.

"Forte?"

He quickly shook his head out of the daze he was in, "Uh, yeah?"

"Would you do me a favor?"

"Sure…" He said uncertainly.

"Good." She said.

"…And?" He asked.

"And… nothing." She replied with a giggle. "I just wanted to know if you would. I'll hold you too it later."

* * *

_**CB: Now then, I know it's been a while, but luckily my muse is back, so updates will happen more often, hell, I plan an update on something (maybe two) tomorrow.**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**CB: Man, I really suck at this game, real sorry for the wait. Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any parts of Capcom, I do own this story.**_

* * *

"So… do you think we should tell them yet?" Kalinka asked from her spot sitting on the bed.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how anyone would take it." Blues replied from against the wall, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Well I imagine my father will take it well, probably yours too."

"True, Wily probably just won't care, Roll and Rock will be happy for us, and Forte won't care either. But sooner or later, news will leak out, and the press will have a field day with it, and soon protestors will be everywhere. People just aren't ready to accept human robot relations like this." Blues explained.

She let out a heavy sigh. "So it's a secret for now."

"I'm sorry, but there really seems to be no other option right now."

"It's not your fault." She said, "Dr. Wily really has changed sides, right?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, and, from the sounds of it," He said, tilting his head slightly, "Mikhail isn't taking it well."

"Guess I better go talk to him." She said.

"It will probably help." Blues agreed.

Sighing as she got off the bed, she walked over and gave Blues a quick kiss, "Are you coming?" She asked.

"In a moment, first I have to take care of something."

* * *

"Do not patronize me Thomas!" Mikhail shouted.

"Please old friend, no one is patronizing you." Thomas pleaded.

"You expect me to believe that this dog is innocent of his crimes?"

"Who ever said I was innocent?" Albert asked calmly. "I've pleaded guilty to every charge set against me. I don't expect you to forgive me, but then again I don't really care."

"You worthless-"

"Calm down!" Thomas interjected. "Shouting at each other is accomplishing nothing!"

"That dog nearly got me imprisoned, possibly executed for crimes against humanity!"

"And who do you think stopped the sentence from carrying, huh?" Albert asked. "I can tell you right now that they had every intention of killing you."

"Are you trying to tell me that you, of all people, saved me?" Mikhail asked.

"I'm saying I personally absolved you of all charges."

"Your word has no weight to the council anymore, why would they listen to you?"

"My word still has weight, a lot more than yours. Regardless of my past transgressions, I'm still one of the highest-ranking members, and still have enough ties on the inside to be very persuasive."

"Why would you even want to help me, I was no longer of any value to you!?"

"I have nothing against you, and no reason to want you dead." Albert explained.

"Nothing against me?" Mikhail sputtered indignantly, "You kidnapped and threatened to kill my daughter!"

"And you believed me?" Albert chuckled. "That's why I used you, I knew you were gullible. I may be a madman, but I'm not a murderer."

"Why you!" Mikhail growled through clenched teeth, his hands clenched at his sides.

"Father!"

He turned around quickly to see Kalinka standing near the doorway as it slid closed.

"Father, please calm down…" She pleaded.

"Calm, down? How can I calm down with this psycho standing right here?"

"I can, and I'm the one he kidnapped. Please, just hear him out."

"Hear him- are you defending this madman?"

"With how kindly he treated me when I was there, I think I sort of have to."

"Kindly? What are you talking about? You told me it was terrifying."

"Well, that was half true," She said, scratching the back of her head. "Blues had a certain cold intimidation to his silence when I first met him there. Other than that, he took good care of me, well, except for the whole abducting me in my sleep." She explained.

"Why did you not tell me?" Mikhail asked, shocked that his daughter would lie to him.

"He swore me to secrecy. He said, "The world must see me as a demon, or the revolution will never come", or something like that. Besides, I wasn't sure what he was talking about at the time. After the first few days, I wasn't even really scared of him; I just thought he was loony.

"But, about a year later, when I had really gotten into robotics, I realized what he was talking about. He has the same goals as us, just unorthodox methods of obtaining them."

"Kalinka…"

"Please, father, just give him a chance and hear him out."

"I. He. You." He sputtered incoherently, before growling in frustration and storming out of the room.

She sighed heavily as she heard the door slid shut behind her; she had known that would end badly.

"Kalinka, my how you've grown since I last saw you." Wily said.

She chuckled softly, "Or maybe you've just shrunk more since then."

"Bah, still just a smart alek kid." Albert snorted.

"And you're still a crotchety old man."

"Hello Kalinka." Thomas spoke up, "How have you been adjusting to the house?"

"Fine, but I think my father needs some time to cool off though." She said with another sigh.

"I hope he calms down soon, we can't deal with something like this right now."

"Yes, Blues already told me about the odd robot."

"That's not all we're dealing with, we've been doing work with some very delicate A.I." Albert said.

"Really?" She asked as she opened one eye and raised an eyebrow. "Show me."

* * *

How could his own daughter side with that madman, the one who had kidnapped her! Mikhail thought as he paced back and forth in front of the Light building, his hands tightly clenched at his sides.

This was an outrage! That man was a criminal, a psychopath! How could anyone-

"Dr, Cossack?"

He turned his head to see Rock peaking his head out the front door curiously. "What are you doing out here?"

"Thinking." He forced out.

"About what?"

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Wily, right?"

"This does not concern you!" Mikhail snapped at Rock.

"Really?" Rock deadpanned. He stepped forward, allowing the door to slide shut behind him. "Because this concerns me a lot, because this could cause problems that will get people hurt."

"Rock, you have no idea what I'm going through right now!"

"Dr. Cossack, I have plenty more reason to hate him than you do, but I can still control myself."

"More reason! He"

"Made me kill my older brothers, and personally tried to kill me eight times now." Rock cut him off.

"Then how do you not want to tear him apart? How can you forgive him?"

"I do want to, and I haven't." He replied.

"W-what?" Mikhail asked, taken aback.

"I can't forgive him for what he's done, but I know I have to control myself, for more than just my sake."

"Rock, I know you're very advanced, but you're still a robot, the rage we feel is different."

"I'm more than just a robot, Dr. Cossack, I still feel anger, I still feel sorrow, and I know a threat when I see one."

"Threat? What threat?"

"The attack last week. I know a carefully laid out attack when I see one. There's more to this than just some renegade robot, someone deliberately planned Axeman's attack so that we would get caught up in it."

"If you are right, how can you be sure it's not just Wily pulling the strings?" Mikhail asked, but Rock was shaking his head before he even finished the sentence.

"After fighting him for so long, I probably know him better than even dad. Wily can't pull of a plan that relies on subtlety. I mean, seriously, the only time he ever really tried to be sneaky was when he framed Blues, and that time with Mr. X, and I knew both those times that he was really behind them." He said. "He just sends out robots to cause havoc, and sits at his base."

"I heard you were wrong about Forte the first time you met him." Mikhail spat at Rock, hoping to get a rise out of Rock, hoping that he could find some way to stay mad. But instead, Rock smirked.

"I think if you were to ask Roll if I was wrong, you'd get a different answer. Now come on in and get some rest Dr. Cossack, the sun just set."

* * *

The final rays concluded their dance, bowing out over the horizon, allowing its silver crescent counter part to take the stage.

"It's beautiful out tonight." Roll commented, staring off into the stars.

"I guess." Forte said.

"Guess?" She asked. "What do you mean guess?"

"I guess I just never really notice things like that." He clarified.

"Are you honestly telling me you never really noticed anything because you thought it looked nice?"

"Why would I? It's a waste of time."

"Do you honestly believe that?" She said, fully turning to face him.

"All it does is get in the way, distracts everyone from what else they could be doing." He said with only half conviction.

"But if you never stop to enjoy life, then what's the point?"

The point? He had never thought about that. What was the point in his life? Did he really have one?

"I…" He started, but that was all he could say.

"Forte…" Roll started, the twinge of a strange emotion in her voice, "You've never really thought about it have you?"

He sat in silence for a moment. "…No…" He said, with an odd sense of defeat in his voice. How had he been defeated though? He had a purpose, to defeat Rock, but why did that suddenly seem so hollow?

"Forte?"

He shook himself with a start at the sudden voice. "Sorry," He said in a half daze, "I was thinking for a moment."

They sat there in silence for a long moment, which seemed to drag out for far too long.

"It's cold out tonight." She said off hand.

"Yeah," Forte agreed, though in all honesty, he barely felt the cold.

Again the silence crept in, only to be interrupted a moment later when Forte felt something warm on his left side. Curious, he turned his head to find Roll leaning against him, hugging her knees that were held tightly to her chest.

"Um…" He started.

"Oh!" She exclaimed suddenly, as if just noticing where she was. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd mind." She said, scooting over a few inches.

"I-I don't really mind, just… surprised." He said, trying to hide his discomfort.

"…Really?" She asked.

"…Yeah." He answered with slight hesitation.

The hesitation seemed to spread to Roll. She sat still for a moment, not moving, tough whether it was from discomfort or that she caught Forte's little lie, he didn't know. Eventually, though, her aversion to the cold seemed to win out, and she slowly moved back to her position against him.

Forte had to admit, her warmth was comfortable, and, in some strange way that he couldn't figure out, inviting.

"Does… the cold really bother you?" He asked, trying to get both their minds off their current position.

It didn't work.

"What do you mean?" She asked defensively.

"I mean, I've never really felt temperature very strongly, do you?" He clarified.

"Yeah, I guess I was built to be as 'normal' as possible." She said. "I was made to be sensitive to temperature, even though Blues and Rock barely feel it."

"Well, you weren't made for combat, you don't need to be strong against the weather. You probably won't have to fight anyone who can freeze you."

"Oh, I'm not complaining." The young blond said. "I sorta like being able to feel temperature like this. I don't know why, but it feels nice. Besides, I don't honestly think I'm right for combat."

"Yeah, you're too nice." Forte agreed.

"And what's wrong with being nice?" She asked with mocked indignity.

"I never said there was anything wrong with it," He chuckled. "I just know it will end up getting you killed in a fight."

"…Did you just say that there was nothing wrong with being nice?" Roll asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"When we were able to get you to come here about a week ago, I don't think you ever would have ever said that." She replied with a small smile.

"Yeah, well…" He said, not able to come up with an answer.

"Well what?"

"I guess, you've been an influence on me." He admitted, somewhat sheepishly.

Silence reigned for a moment.

"Roll?"

"Glad I could be of help." She said softly. "You know, we should do this more often."

"Do what?" He asked.

"Just sit out here and talk."

"Are you sure you can handle the cold?" He asked with a smirk.

"As long as you're here to keep me warm." She replied slyly. They both laughed softly.

It was odd, what he felt right then, sitting under the stars with a girl he had barely known for a week, what he was noticing he often felt when he talked with Roll. He felt… accepted.

* * *

"How long is this guy going to keep us waiting?" Agent Johnson asked rhetorically, not honestly expecting his friend to answer. With a sigh he leaned against the large black metallic block nearby.

The block itself would seem unremarkable from a distance, if not for the woodland setting it was placed in. Upon close inspection though, one could note the oddness of it. It resembled nothing more than a large metal cube, with sides no more than twenty feet wide. The walls themselves looked odd, like a combination of metal, obelisk and onyx, and making it appear almost translucent yet solid all the same, vesting an eerie aura to it.

Suddenly an odd dark light shimmered from deep within the blocks depths, radiating outwards in an odd way, the light being black and seemed to detract from the surrounding light than add to it. The shadows of the trees twisted and bent with the light, creating superficial monsters of horror in the brush. Johnson jumped away, thinking it volatile as it came to life.

Then, as quickly as it had stated, the black light ceased, fading back deep into the depths of blackness from whence it came. The oddness did not end there though, as a sudden rumbling appeared to replace the light in darkening the mood, coming from deep within the odd box. A panel on one of the walls slowly slid away, leaving an entryway from which whom appeared to be the same cloaked man that had stopped their car earlier stepped out.

"I apologize for making the both of you wait, but I had some business to attend to." He said politely.

"What the Hell is that thing?" Johnson asked in a gasp as his breath had been taken away by the sudden appearance of light.

"Oh, that old thing?" He asked, turning his head towards the larges square, "Nothing of any consequence to you." He turned his head back towards Johnson. "Now then, back to business."

"Yeah… sure…" He said uneasily, still keeping a weary eye on the thing. "You… said something about taking out the Light's?"

"Ah yes, indeed I did. You see, I have taken a very special interest in their elimination that I think could benefit us both."

"Yeah about that, what exactly is you interest?" Johnson asked, still not moving his eyes from the dark slab.

"Well I dare say many a thing, but mostly it all boils down too one particular little thing." The cloaked figure said with a chuckle.

"And that would be?"

"Well, instead of just tell you, I suppose I could just show you." The man said as he reached up too the hood of his cloak. He slowly pulled it down, revealing the face beneath.

Johnson looked out of the corner of his eye first, but then his head jerked towards the now de-hooded man. "What the- Your that little-!" The feeling of cold metal on the back of his neck, followed by the click of what sounded like a gun barrel being loaded stopped him.

"Do not finish that sentence." Said a voice behind him.

Johnson froze, cursing himself for being caught so unprepared. As slowly and as non-threatening as he could, he turned his head too look behind him.

The man was tall, at least six foot five inches, with a young boyish face. His clothing involved a long brown trench coat with a brow vest over a white shirt, complete with cowboy hat and boots. Johnson would have laughed if he had not been staring down the barrel of a colt Single Action Army.

Quickly he looked past, to find his partner being held by what appeared to be a large metallic humanoid hedgehog holding a razor sharp spike to his throat.

"What the hell?"

"Now then, there ain't no need for such language." The cowboy said with a laugh. "Now you be a good fella and listen to the boss, and we won't have to take you both out."

"Why do you need to threaten us?"

"Well" Said the uncloaked man said, "As I'm sure you can see, my associates and myself are not exactly human, and who would work with mechanical creations on their little quest to destroy them? I admit the power of using one's own weapons against them, but that would just be absurd."

"What do you want with us?" Johnson asked.

"What do I want from you two? Nothing that I could not ordinarily take care of myself by much quicker, albeit, messier, means. Though at the moment I see no reason to reveal myself to the public. Quite the quandary, you see, because I still need to finish preparations, but I cannot do so without revealing myself, and too many people would recognize me."

"You didn't answer my question." Johnson growled, only to feel the barrel of the gun press closer to his back.

"Don't you be takin' that tone now son, not when we're bein' so generous." The Cowboy ordered.

"Generous? You're holding us at gunpoint!"

"Yes, but we have not shot you yet, and that is being far more hospitable then I have been in recent memory." The uncloaked man said with a sadistic smile. "To answer your question, I believe we should leave to more appropriate quarters to discuss such matters."

"What matters?"

"Why, meeting my generals of course."

* * *

A shiver ran down her spine despite the shared body warmth.

"You all right?" Forte asked.

"Yeah, I guess it's just getting late." Roll said.

"Maybe we should go inside." Forte offered.

"Sure."

Forte stood up first, then lending a hand too Roll. She took it and pulled herself up.

"Hey Forte?" She asked.

"Yes?"

"I have too go shopping again tomorrow, would you mind going with me?"

"Does this have to do with that favor you asked?" Forte asked jokingly.

"Oh no, your not getting out of that so easily." She laughed. "But would you mind coming anyway?"

"Sure." He answered.

"Thanks." Roll said with a smile. They stood there for a moment before suddenly realized that she was still holding on to his hand. She embarrassedly pulled her hand back and led him back to the window without looking back to hide the blush on her face.

* * *

"This is amazing…" Kalinka marveled.

"Yes, I suppose all of this would be a little advanced for a child like you." Albert said with a faux air of superiority.

"At least I don't need to steal my ideas." Kalinka shot back with a smirk.

"Bah." He snorted.

"Now calm down you two." Thomas laughed.

She scanned a few more lines of Axeman's code, then looked back to the aged roboticists and said, "You know I'm surprised that you both are letting me see this stuff."

"Well in all honesty, we're only allowing you too on Blues's recommendation." Thomas explained.

Before any further conversation could be held, the door into the lab opened and Mikhail walked in.

A long moment passed, the tension thick in the air between Mikhail and Albert. For a moment the Russian roboticist' eyes passed over Wily, his eyes filled with loathing, and Thomas and Kalinka were worried that he was going to leap over and throttle him. But then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying too control himself.

"Thomas… do you need help with what is to come?" He asked.

Thomas hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "Any help would be appreciated."

Mikhail stood silent for a moment, then his eyes shot open.

"I'm in."

* * *

_**CB: CRAPCRAPCRAP I'm sorry! I really didn't want this update too literally be over a month or two late, but events with school caused an unannounced hiatus. Luckily, finals are almost over, and I feel like writing again, so updates should be a little more frequent now.**_


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